Cultural Books

While the theme of the book is a father's love, the stories conjured up for me images of my aunties, my mom, uncles, big sisters and brothers - those who cherish us, who take pride in our littlest of things just because we are. The emotions are so raw that I felt the strength of the strong-shouldered dads melt to tenderness. I took pleasure in all the stories, but especially Harrison's A Promise for the Seasons. Only a father can make some things right and this book is a memorable tribute and keepsake.

This collection of essays about Black fathers has been long in the coming. It celebrates men who have achieved and accomplished beyond the odds, though not all are famous. The meaning of the book lies in capturing the virtues and strengths of ordinary and extraordinary men, and sharing it with us. The best essays are shared from the heart as well as from the memory of the writer. In attempting to get a range of tributes, some are too short. But all contribute to our understanding and to our knowledge. Any unevenness in the work wrought by many different authors is overcome in the sincerity and poignancy of the collection. This work is well worth reading, and understanding.
Dr. Judith A. B. Lee,
Professor Emerita
University of Connecticut

This book is a tribute to all the wonderful fathers of the world!!! It's important as parents that we understand the impact that we have on the lives of our children. The impact we have on our children as people and more importantly, the impact we on them a individuals!! In this book, the impact of a father and the importance of a father in a childs life is clearly defined!!! This book is the best purchase I've made all year!!! EXCELLENT READ!!!!

This book is a must read for anyone interested in seeing first hand the importance that fathers play in the lives of there childern. Color him father is filled with short stories that are easy to read and thought provoking. Anyone who reads this book will be profoundly impacted.

This book was one of the best books about fathers that I have read. It touched my heart and nurtured my soul to read such a moving tribute.

This is an excellent book. My great-grandfather was a bootmaker in company K of the 9th Mass and I've collected every document I can find on the 9th's existance. The insights this book offers are priceless. Samito has done a wonderful job.

Mr. Samito's work is a careful examination of a tumultuous period in American history, and a compelling human drama. Would make a great movie- better than Braveheart or The Patriot!!

Mr. Samito's work is a careful examination of a tumultuous period in American history, and a compelling human drama. Would make a great movie- better than Braveheart or The Patriot!!

This compelling book truly transported me to the nineteenth century. Mr. Samito eloquently presented the words of this little known figure in a truly remarkable fashion. The history community is truly in debt to Mr. Samito for uncovering these long lost treasures of the nations past. Any history "Buff" worth their salt needs to read this book. I only hope Mr. Samito continues to produce works of this quality for some time to come. Ken Cooper

I don't normally read historical books, especialy ones about little known Civil War generals, but this one came highly recommended by a friend so I gave it a shot. I was won over immediately! As it turned out, the life of Patrick Guiney was remarkable and compelling. His letters to his wife were eloquent and heartwarming, and his courage in the face of what must have been a very painful injury was inspiring. Samito's editing was never intrusive, and elucidated the more ambiguous aspects of the text. I found his explication of the Boston cultural and political scene of the time to be particularly insightful. Overall, a surprisingly good read! Nick Cavuoto

Guy Debord's THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is one of the most widely quoted and important works of the past fifty years. Society as spectacle has become one of the most frequently used descriptors for modern consumer society and the media that reinforces its basic principles. For instance, in only the past couple of weeks I have encountered frequent mentions of Debord in Telotte's REPLICATIONS: A ROBOTIC HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE FICTION FILM as well as an essay on a number of recent important SF films by Bukatman (contained in Kuhn's first anthology of essays on SF film, ALIEN ZONE) entitled "Who Programs You? The Science Fiction of the Spectacle." One encounters Debord's central image in literary critics like Fredric Jameson and a host of writers on popular culture such as Greil Marcus (especially in his LIPSTICK TRACES: A SECRET HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY).

Marcus's discussion of the Spectacle is at best vague, but I believe that is part of the source of its power. One sees -- to stay on the level of the SF film -- in movies like ROBOCOP the spectacle in full bloom, as the mass media through advertising pushes onto the public utterly irrational products like the 6000 SUX, a large luxury automobile that explicitly celebrates its horrible gas mileage and somehow makes this a reason for desiring it (in the course of the film a gunman holding hostages makes one of his demands a huge car that gets "really sh*tty gas mileage, like the 6000 SUX"). One can associate a wide range of phenomena with the Spectacle, from the endless hawking of products that are supposed to result in "a better you" to political regimes like the Bush administration that used the explicit, bald-faced lie as its primary tool for governing to our endless preoccupation with pseudo-celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and the contestants on AMERICAN IDLE (yeah I know that is spelled wrong). It is a flexible and versatile image that gets at our brute suspicion that our world is increasingly obsessed with what is not important but with what is trivial and unimportant. Debord's insight that the system of the spectacle elevates untruths to the level of uncontested beliefs is constantly on view, such as the absurd contention that the American news media -- one of the most conservative and compliant to the needs of the corporations that own it -- is "liberal." And when entities as the very conservative American news media or politicians like the fiscally conservative Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are defined as "liberal" it shifts the "center" so far to the right as to make the far, far right seem mainstream. And the few voices that point this out -- such as Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who points out that he is, while the most liberal current member of the U. S. Supreme Court, in fact a moderate conservative -- are ignored. The celebrities, the pageant, the epic verbiage, the spectacle obscures history and prevents any other understanding either of history or of what kind of society would actually serve our real needs.

Both the major virtue and a major vice of both THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE and Debord's COMMENTS are the almost complete lack of structure. The former is written as a series of over 200 "Theses" that ramble over a host of matters. These are loosely arranged in chapters but I emphasize the word "loosely." Many comments are immediately clear and easily understood. Some passages are opaque to anyone who is not intimate with the most obscure debates concerning Marxist and Communist history. Some theses are brilliantly written and cut to the heart of our contemporary society; some theses are so dull and irrelevant that they may be guilty of killing brain cells. To say that THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is uneven is an understatement. The upside is that if you don't understand one page, nothing has been said to prevent you from understanding the next; if one page is flat, the next can be thrilling.

COMMENTS ON THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is, compared to the earlier work, very easy to read and understand. There is still some vagueness, but there is little that is impenetrable. It does a somewhat better job of connecting up the various bits and parts. He is more explicit here about precisely what his targets are. There might be a small parallel to a passage in Kierkegaard that he quotes at length in THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE. PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS (actually "Crumbs" -- it is a Biblical reference to the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table; here Kierkegaard imagines himself as the poor subjective thinker who has to content himself with the crumbs from the table of the great objective philosopher Hegel -- so far no translator has been willing to give the book the less impressive but more accurate title) deals with the problem of Christianity "algebraically" (in the Swenson translation), while the much larger sequel CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT "clothes it in its historical dress." So THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is more abstract; the COMMENTS more concrete. He makes several explicit (and scathing) references to Reagan; his allusions in the first book are far more illusive.

Despite Debord's hesitancy to be as clear as he might about his overall argument, his intent is clear: to indict the alliance and collusion between mass media, celebrity culture, market capitalism (and its expression in consumerism -- nicely captures in the title of Lizabeth Cohen's A CONSUMERS' REPUBLIC: THE POLITICS OF MASS CONSUMPTION IN POSTWAR AMERICA), and politics. And by remaining less than utterly specific, he made his work all that much more usable by other thinkers and writers. THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE remains one of the most important books for anyone interested in modern culture and society with which to be familiar, while the COMMENTS is an important tool in aiding that familiarity.

It was exactly what I expected to see in a book on this subject.

The book at first seems a slip down a few notches from S.O.T.S. because it is shorter and Debord seems a lot less interested in his topic, or getting us interested in his topic. Who can blame him?

But the brevity of the book makes sense when you realize this--RE: the spectacle, 1) see S.O.T.S. 2) take a look around you from your reading chair 3) ask, what are the few changes in 20 years? 4) write a brief and get back to lived experience.

Some highlights:

The integrated spectacle combines the diffuse, subtle domination of that system which goes by the label "liberal democracy" with tactics practiced by the concentrated, dictatorial mode of the spectacle in past communisms and facsisms. Which means: today, the rulers of the integrated spectacle dictate/script the appearance of an ever-unfolding narrative/fantasy of liberal democracy, complete with all the nitty-gritty details, plot twists and turns, shocking surprises, and pleasant mysteries at which to gawk and gasp and coo. Caravaggio would be jealous of such veristic, theatrical bravado! But what is really happening is something else altogether, hidden behind the misinformation and unverifiable information in the spectacle.

Terrorism is the invented enemy of the perfected, integrated, yet fragile spectacle, which needs an external enemy, seemingly worse than itself, in order to look good and survive by comparison.

Secrecy is everywhere and yet we accept it in passing (our state of alienation conditions us to know nothing about too much anyway, so secrecy seems natural, almost a relief from concern). Is anyone asking: Do we need to know anything more than what we are told by the spectacle? Is is even possible to know more?

".....Eddieeeee, anoootherrr drinkkkkk!!!...."

Experts do our thinking for us, or at least we are not given enough information in a condition of generalized secrecy to make up our own minds. Experts are intercessors, like priests of old, who stand between us and the spectacular governments with their ultimate knowledge of what's really up in the universe. And we must respond to their statements, which can be lies or truths (but we'll never know), with FAITH, since government usurps the position formerly held by God.

Finally, the integrated spectacle has made a whole new method of government possible. Debord wonders if the rulers of the spectacle have yet to realize what they can do with their new spectacular tools? Will the possiblilites become apparent in a flash of lightening?

How will we spectators know if and when this has occured?

Should be read in conjunction with the Society of the Spectacle for full understanding, but can stand on its own.

Notice how accurately Debord predicts, in the 1980s, the current neverending and unwinnable "war on terrorism" that the spectacle system produced.

When I was originally assigned this book in my Western Civ class, I was fully prepared for this to be another uninteresting book that the professor for some reason was going to make us read. My assumption was completely incorrect however. Not only was Debord's book easy to read, but also it was incredibly interesting. His point of view is especially interesting to any American I believe because of his French viewpoint. It is an excellent experience for any American to interact with other countries and their cultures, and though I am not much of a French fan, Debord does it right.

He begins by outlining three basic spectacles that are found and then dives completely into the integrated spectacle, a French/Italian model of ideology that differed from Russian/German and American models. Though not even one hundred pages in length, the pages pack an impressive punch that no reader can deny. In order to understand what I am speaking about, you should do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Debord's work. You do not have to agree with what he is saying to gain from the experience.

In many ways my husband and I miss the 80's. We liked the music, the fashion and the way people were concerned with simple things like hygiene and attractive clothing. This book took us back to those happy carefree teenage years when things were good and we were nearly completely free of responsibility!! As we went through this book we had many good laughs and had fun remembering things long forgotten! I recommend this book if you liked the 80's and I recommend reading it with at least one other person who enjoyed that era! Fun book!

This book was as much fun as a barrel of smurfs...required reading for those of us with a Dukes of Hazard lunch box and a Battlestar Galactica sleeping bag in the closet...awaken the Chachi within!

This book was better than 'Cats' - great trip down memory lane for any Gen X'er - makes the 80s seem rich with culture.

If you ignore the book's ugly-as-sin cover artwork and delve into this maniacal volume of absolutely useless yet totally vital pop cultural information, you will be proud to say: "I am a member of the Chachi Generation." Buy it and love it.

The book is essestial for anyone who came of age in the 1980's. Though many consider it a forgettable decade, for those of us who grew up during those years, it's great to have a refresher course on things that we considered to be so important at the time. And where else are you going to find an entry on the brilliant, yet short lived series, "Manimal?"

I use this book as part of my "Politics of Psychology" course at Antioch University Los Angeles. Cushman provides a wonderfully idiosyncratic reading of the development of the discipline and practice of Psychology in the United States. Using a social constructionist lens he presents a strong argument intent on demonstrating the various ways in which economic, political and cultural concerns gave shape to the contemporary practice of psychology. Cushman's work is puncuated with interesting stories told in his warm and enriching style, but it also provides careful argument and analysis along the way.

This is a fun and informative description of how history and psychology have influenced each other, resulting in a sense of self that shapes and is shaped by our culture. Many psychological approaches end up in navel gazing introversion. Cushman dispenses with these and paints a clear picture of history and psychology dancing together in an embrace that allows the self to be both a cultural artifact and a culture shaper. Ideas can change the world and Cushman's book is full of ideas that have changed history, for better or for worse. The combination of academic rigor, interesting anecdotal evidence and plain funny material are rare in a single volume. If you are tired of the standard psychological introversion, try this one for a refreshing perspective on the dynamics of history, culture and the self.

This book looks at American cultural history since the Civil War through the prism of historical changes in the field of psychotherapy--and at the same time puts psychotherapy in a historical context. It's simply the best cultural history of the US I've ever read. It traces the threads--primarily unbridled capitalism, rugged individualism, and the decline of the family and community--that have left us with the "empty self" which so many suffer from today. That is, a self that is depressed, anxious, psychosomatic, addicted--desperate to be filled up, by consumer goods, by peak experiences, by celebrity, by psychotherapy--without recognizing how much of our suffering comes from social change.

I'm a Master's level student doing research with the influence of racism on the psychology of Black people. I found this book extremely enlightening. It was recommended to me by a professor and I haven't put it down yet!!! Great resource.

A fascinating, entertaining book. I cannot recommend Cushman highly enough! It is truly disappointing that book has been overlooked by the discipline of psychology. However, the reasons it has been are obvious once you read it. Cushman details how psychology ignores its basic assumptions (e.g., about the self, the nature of understanding) and consequently perpetuates the problems it seeks to allieviate. This is a central point -- psychology is elevating a notion of self (i.e., the empty self) that is only filled by psychotherapy, not "cured". For those who are willing to reflect on how the profession is influenced by moral presuppositions, and political and economic factors - this is a must read. Moreover - Cushman offers solutions. For those who know of this book -- it is a hidden classic.

I haven't yet finished my copy of this first work but just today I heard Janis Kearney speak for the third time during a series of events here in Birmingham, AL- at both Miles College & the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. I have been overwhelmed with emotion by both the literal and symbolic convergence between myself and the author. I KNOW that each person in the audience today and the previous two identified with the author in one way or another. Her story is that of any person who has ever dared to dream AND BELIEVE that DREAMS CAN & OFTEN DO COME TRUE. For those individuals who have not ventured to imagine the possiblities let this bio of her early beginnings until today be something of a testimonial or road map to realizing the potential within you- and each of us. I highly recommend that you purchase this book but also make it a point to attend a Kearney speaking engagement if ever afforded the opportunity.

I had a hard time putting down once I began reading. Many publications tell the story of survival of urban families. This book tells the story of survival and success of a african-american rural family. The writing was so mesmerizing that I was able to visualize each event in the life of the Kearney family.

Upon meeting Janis F. Kearney, one is presented with a combination of soft-spoken gentleness, wisdom beyond her years, and a quiet strength that isn't seen often in people anymore. I've had the pleasure of meeting Kearney, and now after reading her memoir, I've had the opportunity to learn a bit more about her and how she came to have the above qualities. COTTON FIELD OF DREAMS, her debut title, is a beautiful heart-felt tribute to her family.

It amazes me and touches my heart how such a large family with so few material possessions had so much that matters in life...love, support, and determination to succeed at all costs. How is it that an uneducated sharecropper with 17 children can inspire his children to learn and to reach for the greater things in life? How is it that those same children missed the first portion of the school year, but were still ahead of their class academically? How is it that each of these children grew up to surpass the confines put on their parents and other poor blacks of that time period? The book was so real to me, I shared in the family's happy times, their heartaches, their success, and the benefit of parents who inspired and instilled the importance of education. I cried over the deaths in Kearney's family, rejoiced in the yearly reunion, and celebrated a great piece of African-American history and family.

Kearney was the personal diarist to Clinton and also served in other positions during his campaign and years in office. In the foreword he points out, "From their parents, the Kearney children absorbed a powerful conviction: They were neither better nor less than any other human being. This conviction gave them the self-confidence to move far beyond their difficult beginnings." It is this conviction, this type of upbringing, that is missing in the majority of houses today.

COTTON FIELD OF DREAMS shares the lessons taught by our forefathers and brought to fruition by faith, trust, perseverance, and the desire to dream. The writing is soft and soulful, the shared memories are heart-warming, and the final outcome of the Kearney children was simply awe-inspiring. When one thinks of 17 children growing up in the South during the mid-1900s, it is unusual to picture them as lawyers, historians, and such in the present, but with the exception of one child, they all reached this level of success. It just goes to show that materialistic wealth means nothing when compared to upbringing. It all goes back to the parents, one of the most important aspects of a child's life. (RAW Rating: 4.5)

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

This is a wonderful memoir - a very moving look at the life of an Arkansas sharecropping family - with a strong message for the parents of today who want to raise successful children.

I am the niece of Janis Kearney. I can not tell you how blessed I was to read this book. In a family so large, it is hard to get everyone's "story." It brought tears to my eyes to read my aunt's memories, and through her words get to know a little bit about a grandmother I don't remember and an aunt whose death I can't forget. I hope that efforts like this will be taken up by more individuals, so that the generations that come behind us can benefit from the historian in us all.

If you're a Royals fan (like I am), if you can remember the disappointments of 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1984 (like I can), if you were on top of the world when the Royals won it all (like I was), this is a book to buy. It is chock full of memories of the 1985 Series, with little interesting facts thrown in about various player's lives after the Series, (where have you gone Buddy Biancalana is answered among others), and neat insights into the running of the Royals that year. "The Call" warrants a chapter of it's own, as does a member of neither team, Don Denkinger.

The only reason I didn't give this book a "5" is that the writing of the book itself is only average, even for a sports book. It doesn't come up to the level of some of the great true-sports authors of our time such as Halberstein.

If you are a true-blue Royals fan, you need this book. If you aren't, it is still a nice story of a team that came together at the right time to win the World Series.

The Kansas City Royals won the World Series in 1985. Most people aren't aware that the team had a few occasions when they were really good and competitive. Sure, those were many years ago, but you can't take away a World Series victory for a team that truly deserved it that year.

The opinions and memories that this book provides is worth a serious read. Every baseball fan should order this book right away.

I am a lifelong Royals fan and like many Kansas Citians, I have vivid memories of the games that year. However, I have very limited information about what this series meant at the time to the actual players. This book transcends the box scores and recaps to provide true insights to the thoughts and emotions of the players and the fans. The importance of this series to this team and city is epitomized by the graphic descriptions of players' mental impressions surrounding the key plays in that series. This series was the greatest sporting event in this city's history and this book is a wonderful way to relive the splendor.

It's a shame that any Royals team wouldn't be inspired by reading this book. Former Kansas City Royals outfielder Frank White is right, "You've only got a few chances in life when a special challenge is put before you." So I hope future Royals teams will read this book, and maybe that inspiration will help improve the franchise. It was wonderful to experience what the former Royals are up to now-a-days, and Mr. Spivak did a great job in describing the feel of all seven World Series games. Finally, "The Curse of The Call" was a brilliant twist.

As a faithfull and lifetime Royals fan, this book is amazing. The stories and memories of that faithfull series are brought back very vividly. The author does a very good job of re-creating the suspensefull moments of one of the most exciting times in Kansas City History

I have loved traveling to Egypt for years and have devoured everything decent I can find to read about this country and its people. If you want to understand the Egyptians this volume is one good place to start.

As Baines and Malek explained in their introduction, they attempted to make this atlas useful for those readers who might plan to travel to Egypt and visit the ancient sites. The authors made good on this claim by devoting over half of the atlas to a section entitled "A Journey Down the Nile", which provides a survey of ancient sites that are encountered while traveling down the Nile from Elephantine towards the Delta. Archaeological finds are briefly introduced for each location through a combination of discussion, illustrations, and frequent maps. Since this part of the atlas is organized according to geography (south to north along the Nile), sites from different historical periods are inevitably mixed together, which leads to a confusing sequence of, for example, Ptolemaic temples followed by New Kingdom tombs followed by Predynastic graves and so on. While this arrangement might be useful as a travel guide of sorts, armchair travelers (like myself) who expect a continuous development of ideas may be disappointed. Perhaps if the authors had organized their "Journey" chronologically as well as geographically, this atlas would have had more of an impact on its readership, especially when reinforced by the plethora of photos, illustrations, and maps that are present.

Despite this misgiving, I thought that the short articles that constitute the remainder of the atlas were informative and interesting. Topics covered in these articles include Egyptian art, religion, and writing, among others. And of course, numerous photos and diagrams are provided that are a pleasure in and of themselves.

As far as I'm concerned, the major strengths of the "Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt" are the excellent historical maps, the floor diagrams of the major sites, and the visual delight provided by the beautiful photos. Although the geographical framework is a limitation, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses, and this book will probably be able to satisfy the "Egyptomania" fix of many readers.

If you are interested in ancient cultures as I am this is a great addition to your studies. It gives you a visual element to what can be just words on a page. If you only have a passing curiosity about Egypt it is a wonderful way to dip your feet in the Nile for just a little while. If you like maps and graphics it is a thrill ride.

This is the second edition of one of the finest summations of ancient Egyptian civilization ever written for the general reader. Not only is this an exellent introduction to many aspects of Egypt, it is a visual delight. The maps, especially, configure in the reader's mind spacial relationships and their cultural implications. Other illustrations of temple precincts and related architectural elements of Egyptian life supplement the excellent writing, written for, but never "down to" non-specialists. If I were to own only one reference work on ancient Egypt, this would be the one.

This book reads well, in a subject area where turgid prose is the rule. It begins with topical sections giving a good overview, each of which can be read in an hour or two. Then it proceeds on a journey down the length of the Nile. Although I needed to read more specialized books, at the price of turgid prose, to delve deeply into some aspects of Egyptian prehistory, I regret that I had not started with this one. This book will do nicely as the ONLY or the FIRST book on Egypt in one's library, depending upon one's needs. Having read several books on Egypt previously ,which lacked good maps, the topical maps in this book justify the entire expense.

Ms Ugresic makes a real case when she exposes the nationalisms that permeate our world. How do things that are similar become different? Why do people not approach themselves but are being "held apart"? Much of the reasons are political policies, money and power struggles. At the end of the day, everyone of us is victim of national brainwashing. This is why we ought to be critical and never forget how we have something essential in common: we are all human.

This well-written book gives keen insight to events surrounding the dissolution of Yugoslavia while providing a view into the collective mind of former Yugoslavians. This book also makes one wonder about how nationalism is used, for better or worse, in other countries as a political vehicle to motivate its people to support specific ideals. While I agree with Ugresic's criticism of nationalism and the role it plays in post-Yugoslavian times, I also wonder if it is just a collective defense-mechanism, a means for survival when collective identity is being shattered. It is a fascinating read, well-written, and illuminating on many different levels.

Although it has taken the English translation of this collection of essays a few years to come into print (it was first published in Dutch),this is a highly relevant, illuminating, and moving book. Most of the essays were written between '92 and '94, with more recent postscripts. With rare clarity and complexity of thought, gift of articulation, emotional courage and absence of pretence or squeamishness, Ugresic has carried out a highly accessible investigation into the Yugoslav war, the demise of communist Europe, the East-West polarity, the ambiguities of exile. With references to other East European writers and thinkers (Milan Kundera, Miroslav Krleja, Danilo Kis, Josiph Brodsky), she explores the tyranny of the new constructs of national identity in the Balkan states, the enforced collective amnesia of the former Yugoslavs, the many traumas of their history, as well as the common psycho-cultural lanscape of the 'Eastern block'. There are many deeply moving episodes and revealing insights here, delivered in the familiar 'Central European' style of ironic, melancholic, bitter humanism. Vaguely reminiscent of Milan Kundera, only better because of the lack of smugness and the final doubting humility of someone who has felt intense pain and articulated the nature of this pain.

Dubravka Ugresic is perhaps less well-known in the English-speaking world than the other Croatian "dissident" writer Slavenka Drakulic, which is unfortunate. Both Ugresic's essays and especially fiction are far superior to that of Drakulic. "Culture of Lies" includes the author's observations of Croatian society and politics of the last ten years, both of which have been none too kind to her (indeed, while achieving great acclaim in other European countries, she was branded a "traitor" and worse by Croatian politicians and the pro-regime press for her uncompromising criticism of Croatian nationalism, etc.). In this book, Ugresic shows the many ways in which nationalism imbued all levels of society in Croatia, making people increasingly hostile to different views and people who were/are "different." Her particular area of interest is the way this was reflected in the behavior of intellectuals, who-at least one would like to think-are not supposed to be as susceptible to the appeal of God-and-country patriotism and nationalistic kitsch. Her description of an incident in a Zagreb tram, in which a young man accosts and beats an old destitute drunken man, is particularly vivid and sadly indicative. In fact, this whole section of the book, called "Souvenirs from Paradise" is an excellent collection of impressions and observations of the underside of Croatian life. Despite the recent sweeping political changes in Croatia, many of the negative aspects of society in this country as described by Ugresic are still here, and they will haunt this country for some time to come.

It tells truth of thousends of people manipulated with mass media on Balkans. If you want an expert book on how wars started in ex-yugoslavia you should read this one.

When I found out I was hired as a teacher in Chile I decided to research the country a bit before I came. My friend recommended this series. It's a light read, I quickly read it cover to cover. Some of it seems a bit outlandish, until you come to Chile. Everything I read in the book (especially on the subject of the regalon...being a teacher and all) has been true. It is incredible. This book clarified and prevented many cultural mishaps. I highly recommend this book if you intend to work or travel extensively in Chile.

What a find! Being the child of a Chilean-American couple, I've spent a lot of time learning about the 'everyday life' and culture of Chile- although I readily confess to not being an expert. Reading this book was like a light bulb going on over my head! All of the sudden I understood a lot of things I'd noted on my visits with my father's family, but never really understood (like why they call turtlenecks Beatles!) I highly recommend this book to anyone who will be spending a lot of time in Chile. I've given it to my new husband to read, so he'll have a better understanding of the country when we go visit. Its a truly great resource!

As an anthropologist and long-time resident of Chile, I strongly recommend this book to anyone who plans to spend time here. In fact, I've made it required reading in a 'culture course' I teach for North American university students here in Chile. This book is not another travel guide, but rather an insightful and very accessible look into the intracacies of Chilean culture. A quick look through the table of contents shows its range of topics, and the Cultural Quiz at the end is a must!

I was very lucky to have the opportunity to read this book. Being a Chilean myself, it was very interesting to learn about the way foreigners see us, particularly after living in the US for a couple of years. It is impressive how accurate the facts are, and the way they are presented is quite entertaining. I was very surprised to know that the authors were not native Chilean. My American fiancé bought this book in an attempt to understand me better, gain knowledge about my country, and to lean about traditions and customs of my people and society. He could not have gotten something better for this purpose. I think he now understands more about many of the things I do or the way I am. He has never been in Chile (yet), but I think that after reading the book things will make more sense, and it is an excellent guide to the daily life in that part of the world. I would recommend to start reading another section different from chapter one, which is the most difficult to read, particularly for somebody who is not familiar with Chile, and is planning to go there.

We lived with an Exchange Student from Chile this year. So many pages of this book had me thinking "So, that's why....." It answered many questions I didn't even know to ask.